Serendipity Tales
by Luiz4200
Summary: Based on Deviantart's Orangephoenix6's fancomic "Serendipity". Serendipity Tales is a series of one-shots. I intend to focus on Stan, Ford and Fiddleford but some tales might have focus on other characters.
1. Tale One: Fiddleford Learns

**Disclaimer 1: I don't own Gravity Falls or any character from the series.**

 **Disclaimer 2: The fan comic Serendipity belongs to Deviantart user Orangephoenix6, who gave me permission to use it.**

 **Serendipity Tales**

 **Tale One: Fiddleford Learns**

Stanley "Stan" Pines and his business partner Fiddleford Hadron McGucket were toasting to their newfound success when the latter made a comment that surprised the former. "If Stanford could see me now."

"Stanford?" Stan asked in confusion. He hasn't heard that name ever since his father threw him out of the family.

Not knowing of the kinship between Stan and Stanford, Fiddleford assumed Stan thought he meant Stanford University. "Sorry, Stan. Stanford is an old friend of mine from back when I used to attend Backupsmore University. Like most people I've introduced my idea of portable computers to before I met you, he didn't think it'd sell. The most curious thing about it is that you and he have the same surname."

Stan was glad for not having any liquids inside his mouth when Fiddleford said that. "Are you talking about Stanford Filbrick Pines?" Stan asked.

Fiddleford gave a spit take back into his cup. "How do you know his middle name? Even I barely remember it since Stanford only mentioned it to me when we introduced ourselves to each other."

"He's my twin brother." Stan explained. "How come you couldn't notice the resemblance? I'm like him without the extra fingers."

"There's a five-year-gap from the last time I saw him and the first time I met you, Stan." Fiddleford explained. "Besides, the only brother he ever mentioned to me was a Sherman Pines."

"Yeah, he blamed me for not being able to get into West Coast Tech." Stan sadly explained. "I accidentally broke his project for a science fair and it destroyed his chances of being accepted there."

"Stanford did say something about that." Fiddleford commented. "Is it true he built a perpetual-motion machine?"

"Yes." Stan sadly answered. It still was a sore point for him but he not only felt the need to tell someone about it but also felt he could trust Fiddleford.

"What went wrong?" Fiddleford asked. "Something like that could see to it the world would no longer have to worry about an energy crisis."

"I've banged my hand on the table and smoke came out of the machine." Stan explained.

"It must've blown a fuse." Fiddleford deduced.

"It was an accident but Stanford didn't believe me." Stan explained. "My Dad was so furious he threw me out of home, berated me for costing our family's potential millions and told me I wouldn't be welcome back again until I made them a fortune. Because of that stupid mistake of mine, I had nothing but the Stanleymobile, the clothes I was wearing, and the stuff inside the duffel bag Dad threw at me."

Fiddleford was saddened by Stan's tale. "What're you doing now that you're rich?"

"I don't know." Stan confessed. "My main focus was to make millions so I could show them they made a mistake by throwing me out but I'm keeping my money for myself. No way I'm handing anything over just to buy my way back into my family."

"I'm sorry, Stan."

"Don't be, Fids." Stan solemnly replied. "Thanks to our newfound fame and fortune, they'll know where to send letters if they ever decide to call me back. I even remember reading at some newspaper that my brother received a grant from your alma mater. Knowing him, I'm sure he'll either build a better perpetual-motion machine or do something else that'll make history remember him for something more meaningful than being my twin brother." He then noticed Fiddleford's nervous (more than usual) face. "What?"

"I'm sorry, Stan, but your brother decided to use that grant to research supernatural anomalies in Gravity Falls, Oregon." Fiddleford sadly explained. "You sound disappointed but not surprised."

"Stanford always had an interest on the supernatural." Stan explained. "He hoped it'd lead him to a place where he and his extra fingers would belong. I'm disappointed my brother didn't get over it but, as you figured out, I'm not surprised."

"A toast to our success." Fiddleford said, feeling a change of subject would be welcome.

 **Author's note: Serendipity Tales is a series of one-shots that won't necessarily have any continuity among themselves or with the original fan comic other than the fact Stan and Fiddleford's teamwork made both of them millionaires.**


	2. Class Reunion

**Chapter 2: Class Reunion**

Fiddleford McGucket was sorting his mail when he found a Backupsmore letter. Upon reading it, he decided to intercom his business partner.

"Fiddleford?" Stanley "Stan" Pines asked.

"Am I interrupting something important?" Fiddleford asked out of consideration.

"Nope." Stan reassured his friend. "I'm just reading some sales reports, Fids. What happened?"

"I've just been invited to a class reunion, Stan." Fiddleford explained.

"Looking forward meeting your High School friends back in Tennessee, Fiddleford?" Stan teased.

"Actually, it's a college class reunion, Stan." Fiddleford clarified.

"Your Backupsmore buddies, then?" Stan asked and then remembered something. "Is Stanford going?"

"I don't know, Stan." Fiddleford answered. "I've just been informed of this reunion and I haven't had news from your brother ever since graduation."

"If you see him, please tell him I said hi." Stan asked.

"Yes, Stan." Fiddleford replied.

"Thank you, Fids." Stan said.

"You're welcome, Stan."

After leaving their son Tate with a reliable person to watch over him, Fiddleford and his wife went to Backupsmore for the class reunion. There, several girls who earlier dismissed Fiddleford as a nerdy-looking guy with a hopeless dream were regretting not taking him seriously. Seeing Mrs. McGucket with him made them even more depressed.

"Oh, Fiddleford Hadron McGucket!" The Dean of Backupsmore University greeted him. "What an honor to have our most illustrious former student back within our walls!"

"Really?" Fiddleford asked in skepticism. "I thought Stanford was the one you held to this regard considering he even received a grant."

"Stanford Filbrick Pines?" The Dean dismissively asked. "That idiot wasted our grant with supernatural nonsense and never showed anything for our faith on him. You, on the other hand, have accomplished the impossible: you made people pick Backupsmore as their _first_ choice."

"Fiddleford?" They heard someone ask. "It's been ages!"

"Stanford?" Fiddleford happily asked. "What's new, old friend?"

"I'm uncovering the mysteries of the universe, Fiddleford." Ford answered. "Unfortunately, my decision not to take a fourth semester of Hyper-Advanced Engineering and Fifth-Dimensional Calculus became a roadblock for my most important project. Well, this is where all my slacking off has landed me."

"Slacking off?" Fiddleford asked in amazement. "Stanford, you used that time for a second semester of Applied Quantum Phase Theory!"

"In comparison to my other Backupsmore semesters, that was slacking off, Fiddleford." Ford explained.

"Have you ever thought about reading the books by yourself, Stanford?" Fiddleford suggested.

"No, but it's a good idea." Ford agreed. "Thank you, Fiddleford."

"You're welcome, Stanford." Fiddleford replied. "By the way, Stan said hi."

"Oh, send my brother a hi from me as well, Fiddleford." Ford dismissively said.

"Brother?" Several people asked in surprise.

"Fiddleford's business partner is my twin brother Stanley." Ford explained and several girls approached him.

"Are you married?" One of them asked with a greedy smile.

"Why did you bother with a grant instead of using whatever you inherited from your parents?" Another one asked, thinking Stan must have had that kind of help to start his fortune.

"Both my mother and my father are alive and Stanley started his fortune without any financial support from either of them." Ford declared and the girls walked away from him. He'd so love to see their faces once he became a multi-millionaire who's even more famous than Stan and Fiddleford together. Ford then resumed talking to his friend. "So, are you and Stanley merely business partners or are you also friends?"

"We're friends, Stanford." Fiddleford answered.

Ford was surprised. He expected both his brother and his college buddies only kept working together out of a mutual need. "What's like needing help from someone without even a High School diploma?"

"I don't mind at all, Stanford." Fiddleford gladly answered. "At first, I was worried that his 'sales pitch' as Stan called it would fail like my past attempts to sell my idea before I met him but it somehow paid off. No offence but I only agreed to start our business partnership because he's the first one who said my idea could sell."

"Yeah, I never thought I'd see personal computers being a success outside Jetson-like cartoons even if I lived long enough to meet their time." Stanford commented and then noticed the woman with him. "Fiddleford, who's your companion?"

"Stanford, this is my wife." Fiddleford explained. "Darling, this is my college buddy and my business partner's twin brother Stanford Filbrick Pines."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. McGucket." Ford greeted her and was otherwise unsure of how to treat a friend's wife.

"Nice to meet you too, Dr. Pines." She replied.

Fiddleford then showed a photograph of his family. "This is my son Tate. Isn't he cute?"

"He certainly is, Fiddleford." Ford agreed.

"Dr. Pines, you should get to meet him someday." Mrs. McGucket suggested. "He'll likely mistake you for his 'Uncle Stan'."

" _Uncle_ Stan?" Ford asked in shock.

"Stan and I are so friends with each other he became an honorary Uncle to my son." Fiddleford commented.

Ford was secretly resentful. While he understood the friendship between his estranged brother and his college buddy started out of their mutual need as business partners, he couldn't help but feel like Stan was intentionally messing with him. "How sweet. Perhaps I'll visit someday."

 **End chapter.**


	3. An Awkward Meeting

**Chapter 3: An Awkward Meeting**

Filbrick Pines was at an airport waiting for his flight back home when he was spotted by a familiar face. "Dad?"

"Knucklehead?" Filbrick asked upon recognizing the youngest of his twin sons. "What're you doing here?"

"I had to make an emergency stop here in New York during my return flight to Palo Alto, Dad." Stan explained. "What about you?"

"I came to New York for a pawnbroker convention and I'm now waiting for my flight back to Glass Shard Beach, knucklehead." Filbrick explained with the stern face his sons grew accustomed to.

"How's Mom?" Stan asked.

"She's fine." Filbrick simply stated.

"What about my brothers?" Stan asked with some hesitation.

"Sherman is doing fine." Filbrick answered. "Steady job, a family. What else could one want besides becoming rich?"

"What about Stanford?" Stan asked.

"That nerd is officially the dumbest genius in the world." Filbrick grumbled. "His college gives him a hundred-thousand-dollar-grant for him to research anything he wants and he wastes it on his obsession with the supernatural. Things like this make me believe your mother and I made a mistake when we said his extra fingers made him special. Why couldn't he be smarter than you where it really mattered? Your brother and I never discussed it but I'm sure he's hating himself for rejecting the idea that made _you_ a millionaire."

"Oh, right." Stan commented. "I remember Fiddleford telling me Ford thought the idea would be a waste of time. Are you impressed with me?"

"You're just a lucky idiot who'd sell anything you could convince people to buy were lucky enough to meet a talented inventor who for some reason needed your help to sell his invention." Filbrick grunted. "Of course, I'm still impressed no matter how much of your fortune was a stroke of luck."

" _Flight 44 to New Jersey is departing from Gate 86."_ They heard someone announce.

"It's my flight, knucklehead." Filbrick stated and started walking away. "Happy Hanukah." He grunted.

"Happy Hanukah, Dad." Stan replied. "And wish Mom a Happy Hanukah for me."

"You don't tell me what to do, knucklehead." Filbrick replied and kept walking away while cursing his fate for making him cross paths with the wealthy son he rejected.

 **End chapter.**


	4. Be Careful What You Wish For

**Chapter 4: Be Careful What You Wish For**

Once upon a time, there was a greedy pawnbroker named Filbrick Pines. He had a wife and three sons. The sons' names are Sherman, Stanford, and Stanley. Filbrick's biggest desire was to become a millionaire or, should it not happen, that at least one of his sons became a millionaire so he could afford to leave the place where he lived. The first time Filbrick thought his wish would become true was when he and his wife were called to the twins' High School Principal's office. The Principal told Mr. and Mrs. Pines that Stanford's science fair project could earn the boy a place at West Coast Tech, which could turn him into a future millionaire.

"I'm impressed." Filbrick said and everyone who knew him knew how hard it was to impress him.

Unfortunately, Stanley's prospects weren't as good. The Principal thought Stanley would never finish High School (and he was right) and would end up having to do barnacle scrapping for a living. Things took a turn for worse when Stanley accidentally destroyed Stanford's project, ruining the young genius' chances of going to West Coast Tech. Stanford thought it was on purpose but Filbrick didn't care. All he cared was that Stanley destroyed his chances of having a millionaire son. Filbrick was so furious he threw Stanley outside the house and said his youngest wouldn't be welcome back until he made them a fortune.

"Filbrick, what did you do?" Ma Pines asked.

"What I should have done right after his Bar Mitzvah." Filbrick grunted to his wife.

"Dad, do you really believe he can make a fortune?" Stanford fearfully asked.

"Of course not, Stanford." Filbrick answered. "Otherwise I'd have kept him."

"But, Filbrick, what's going to happen to Stanley?" Ma Pines asked out of worry.

"I don't care and stop saying the knucklehead's name!" Filbrick commanded. "Our main concern is to make sure Stanford will become a millionaire in spite of not going to his college of choice."

"Do you really believe I can do it, Dad?" Stanford asked.

"Of course I do, son." Filbrick answered with his "impressed" smile. "All you have to do is to build a better perpetual-motion machine or build something else you can sell for millions so we can retire to a nice condo in Florida and rub your success at the faces of those who didn't believe you. The one thing better than being rich is to flaunt it in front of those who underestimated you."

Years had passed and Filbrick never had any news from Stanley until he read the headline "YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS CHANGE WORLD – MAKE MILLIONS".

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Filbrick screamed in horror.

"What happened?" His wife asked.

"Read this." He answered and showed her the newspaper.

Ma Pines was happy for what she read. "This is fantastic! When's he returning?"

"What are you talking about, woman?" Filbrick asked.

"Stanley met your terms, Filbrick." She answered. "He may come back now."

"Of course he may but I'm certain he won't." He explained.

"How do you that?" She asked.

"Because _I_ wouldn't." Filbrick answered.

"Then let's go see him and give our congratulations." She suggested.

"I won't go crawling to the son I rejected." Filbrick replied. "I'm writing a letter."

"A written congratulation?" She asked. "Okay."

"He's not the one I'm writing to." He replied and then started to work on the letter.

 _Stanford Filbrick Pines,_

 _I trust that, by the time you're reading this letter, you probably already read about your knucklehead twin's fortune. Meanwhile, you're still in a cabin in the middle of nowhere wasting your college grant with made-up creatures. Are you trying to become a scientist or are you trying to open a tourist trap to get money from suckers who believe in things like the Jersey Devil? Either away, aren't you ashamed of yourself that the knucklehead beat you to the millionaire status?_

 _Sincerely,_

 _Filbrick Pines_

After mailing the letter, Filbrick decided to have a sandwich at Knuckles'. "Congratulations, Mr. Pines." Knuckles said.

"Uh, it's not my birthday." Filbrick explained.

"I know that, Mr. Pines. I'm congratulating you for the good news." Knuckles explained. "I've read that one of your sons became a millionaire. Aren't you happy?" He asked and other patrons decided to join.

"I've changed my mind." Filbrick said. "I'm going to eat hot Belgian waffles at the other side of my shop."

Filbrick ordered and ate some waffles and, for a brief moment, they made him forget his troubles until it was time to pay for the food. "Are you paying or should I send the bill to your rich son?" The waffle guy joked.

Filbrick didn't take it well. He paid, making a point to leave the exact change so there would be no tips, and then grabbed the waffle guy by the collar. "One more joke and I'll make you taste a knuckle sandwich and I don't mean the one from the other side of my shop." He threatened and then left. Not without getting the receipt for the waffles, of course.

"Isn't he afraid of being arrested?" A customer asked.

"He wouldn't." Another customer answered. "His son Stanley can bail him out and bribe a jury." The two of them laughed at the joke.

Filbrick decided to walk aimlessly until he was interrupted by a random guy around the twins' age. "Mr. Pines?"

"I remember you." Filbrick commented. "You're Crampelter, the leader of the bullies who used to pick on my boys."

"No hard feelings, right?" Crampelter meekly asked. "Look, Mr. Pines. Times are hard. Is Stanley willing to let me into his workforce? I'll do anything for as long as it doesn't involve barnacles!"

Someone with a camera interrupted them. "Excuse me, are you Filbrick Pines?" He asked and Filbrick nodded. "Mr. Pines, I'm conducting an interview about the millionaire who emerged from our town. Have you always known your son Stanley would become rich and famous?"

"Go away!" Filbrick ordered and ran.

 **End chapter.**


	5. Stanford Reads the News

**Chapter 5: Stanford Reads the News**

Ford Pines was doing his grocery shopping when he was interrupted by someone commenting "You looked better on the photograph."

"Which photograph are you talking about?" Ford asked out of curiosity. He hasn't posed for a photograph that became public knowledge ever since he received that grant from Backupsmore University.

"This one where you appear alongside Fiddleford McGucket." The person explained, shocking Ford. Not only he didn't expect any photographs featuring both him and his college buddy to go public, he also didn't expect to meet anyone in Gravity Falls who ever heard of Fiddleford.

Looking at the newspaper, Ford realized that it was really his old friend making the news but the one posing next to Fiddleford was Ford's estranged twin brother Stanley "Stan" Pines. _'Fiddleford must have mistaken Stanley for me.' Ford thought._ "Actually, the one posing next to Fiddleford is my twin brother Stanley." Ford explained.

"Wow, it must be so amazing to grow up with such a clever brother." Someone else commented.

"No comments." Ford replied and then finished his shopping. He also bought his own newspaper to read the details on how to people from his life he never suspected knew each other became rich and famous working together.

' _What? Personal computers really sell? I hope my Dad never finds out it could have been me posing next to Fiddleford. He'd never let me hear the end of it. But how did Stanley and Fiddleford get to know each other and why would my friend choose such an untrustworthy person like my brother as a business partner?'_

Ford kept reading and was surprised by the answer. _'Everyone else Fiddleford tried to sell his idea to was as skeptic about it as I was. Probably Stanley didn't believe either and was just trying to use my friend in another scam. He's just lucky people actually became interested on computers. Hopefully Fiddleford will ditch him now that my friend became too famous to keep needing Stanley's advertising services.'_

Ford tried to spend the next days not thinking about Stan's triumph but it was ruined by a letter he received from his father. _'I'll show him the made-up creature. Tourist traps are something Stanley would do. I'll show them all.'_

 **End chapter.**


	6. The Millennium Bug

**Chapter 6: The Millennium Bug**

"Hey, Fids." Stan addressed his business partner. "What's with this Millennium Bug thing I've heard about?"

"Some computers' calendars only change the year's two last digits, meaning that, once the year 2000 starts, those computers will assume it's the year 1900, Stan." Fiddleford explained.

"Should we be concerned about how our customers will react?" Stan asked while remembering the angry mobs from Stanco Enterprises' pre-Fiddleford era.

"Not at all, Stan." Fiddleford reassured his partner. "I've already prepared every one of them for the third millennium. The problem is with those from a time when giving a computer enough memory for all four digits was too expensive and the year 2000 seemed too distant for people to be worried about."

"Point taken, Fids." Stan accepted Fiddleford's explanation and started thinking on how he could use it on a commercial for a bug spray.

 **End chapter.**


End file.
